THE mid-hour calm is broken by the sound of milk bottles rattling gently as the white truck drives slowly down the street – a scene reminiscent of a bygone era.
Minutes later, the truck – with a cow pictured proudly on the side – stops.
A man jumps out. Glass milk bottles in the hand, he swiftly makes his way to the door – puts the bottles down and returns to the vehicle.
Then it is off to the next house. And the next. Until everyone has their weekly quota of cold, purified milk, fresh from the farm.
On time and right at their doorstep.
Milk(wo)man
A modern milk(wo)man, is making a comeback in St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis as residents revert back to “the good old days” of milk deliveries to their door amid the nationwide lockdown period.
Even if it is only for now.
Catherine Falconer, the owner of The Green Box in St Francis Bay, who delivered her first bottle of milk on April 2, says, “The Green Box is not operating during the lockdown period and, therefore, I have decided to deliver milk to residents’ homes – especially those who want to avoid going to the shops at this time.
“Several residents signed up for the service that delivers milk to their door in a reusable glass bottle amid the battle against the coronavirus,” says Falconer.
“The deliveries are going really well.”
To order is easy: place an order via email at catherine@thefarmersdairy.co.za or WhatsApp at 076 777 2241. Payment can be done electronically.
Orders need to be placed at 17:00 on Tuesdays.
A 750ml Consol glass bottle of milk costs R15. First-time buyers need to purchase the bottle or bottles at a cost of R12 each. After that the bottle is recycled.
It is also available at Boplaas Padstal just outside Jeffeys Bay and De Nude in St Francis Bay.
Why bring back the age of the traditional glass bottle?
“The recyclable glass bottles are the key to making milk delivery environmentally-friendly and socially responsible, as well as economically attractive,” she says. “The curb on plastic waste forms an integral part of The Green Box.”
Falconer receives the milk from the Farmers Dairy at their family-run farm, Cairnbrogie – a medium-sized dairy farm on the Garden Route in Plettenberg Bay.
The cows live in, and graze on, vast, lush pastures. They are 80% grass-fed on a variety of grasses, ensuring the production of high-quality milk. There is no routine antibiotic treatment of cows.
“Once the cows are milked, the milk is cold purified and then bottled on the farm and put straight into the Farmers Dairy trucks,” says Falconer. “Cold purification, that replaces heat pasteurisation, is a non-thermal process where there is no destruction of the enzymes and proteins in the milk, resulting in a healthier product which releases natural vitamin D, calcium, enzymes and protein.”
Supporting local farmers
Apart from milk, The Green Box supports local farmers – selling their fresh produce once a week to residents.
Produce includes eggs and vegetables from The Farm Yard in Jeffreys Bay, vegetables from Stone Ridge Farm on the Oyster Bay Road, meat from Sebastians/ Angus Farm, mushrooms from Milkwood Farm, greens from Papillion in Jeffreys Bay and occasionally meat from Boplaas Padstal in Jeffreys Bay.
The Green Box
Where did it all start?
“The idea of ‘The Green Box” evolved and began as a seed planted in South Sudan, where I used to live and work in a team in the Eastern Equatorial Mountains of South Sudan – in mud houses with no electricity or running water,” says Falconer.
“Our leader, together with the help of team members, made standardised shopping lists of what was available at the Kenyan border markets. We would tick what we wanted on the list, and a few members would collect the food items every two weeks.
“This was how we did our shopping.”
Returning to South Africa (St Francis Bay) with her family in 2019, Falconer started a WhatsApp-group to test the water for her idea and what it should be called.
According to her, the local residents loved the idea of being able to order fresh food items from an emailed shopping list on a weekly basis.
There were, however, some requirements: it must support local farmers and, most importantly, reduce plastic packaging in a bid to work towards a greener environment.
“Therefore, on a weekly basis each client who orders from us, receives mostly fresh food items directly from our local farmers in a wooden box handmade by one of our locals – packed and ready to be picked-up,” says Falconer.
The Green Box fridge trailer is parked outside the St Francis Bakery every Thursday for clients to collect their orders.
More information
For more information, contact Falconer at 076 777 2241 or send an email to catherine@thefarmersdairy.co.za.
Alternatively, visit The Green Box Facebook Page at The Green Box SFB.
